Rasha Hamdan is a sociology teacher. She has been teaching for five years. I interviewed her about her classroom management plan. She said that classroom management includes the activities, plans, behaviors, and position which any teacher employs to create a certain atmosphere in the class in a bid to facilitate the learning process of the pupils and provoke their interest and support them to pursue knowledge and reinforce their self-independence to face the outside world. She said that she has a number of fixed rules which vary according to the age of the students, adding that the teacher should create new methods that harmonize with the genre of the students with he or she is dealing.
Rasha pointed out that the most important factors for the success of the classroom management is that the teacher should discuss with his students the rules which will be implemented during the academic year since imposing the rules and regulations on students will backfire and will lead to students not following the rules. On the contrary, when these rules are discussed with the students, they become more efficient. This way, the "law" would stem from the student and if he violates it, then he has to execute the punishment which he enforces himself. This reinforces his self confidence and self esteem.
The second step is that the teacher should always be aware and on guard for what occurs in the class. For example, if a certain student breaks the rules and the teacher did not notice, this allows other students to break the rule as well. Classroom rules represent the relation between students and the necessary behaviors. These rules should not be numerous so that the student will not feel he is in a place where rules are enforced forcefully and that any violation will lead to punishment (repressive authority). The rules should point to positive behavior rather than negative behavior. For example: I respect my colleagues in what I say and do instead of (Do not make fun of your classmates). Most importantly, applying these rules should be flexible and should fit the circumstances. For example, if talking without raising hands is not allowed, it is allowed only in group working. For these rules to be successful, they have to be endorsed by all the teachers of the same class so that the student will not get lost between the teachers of every student. Rasha also noted that the teacher should move between the students sometimes, and should always move during group work. The teacher should respect his students very well. Based on my experience, I believe that this is very influential on the educational process. Besides, the teacher should accept his students the way they are and whatever they do. For example, instead of telling the student who interrupted his mate that he impolite, we better tell him that you should not interrupt the person who is speaking.
She also said that the teacher should pursue many methods to deal with the negative behavior. For instance, if a student dropped his colleague's book on the ground, we as teachers should be ready to adopt several approaches due to the fact that the student might have dropped it unintentionally or the book might have touched his sweater, or his friend has moved the table suddenly. Rasha pointed out that intervention methods vary from one position to another. Verbal expressions are not always helpful and might sometimes lead to interruption of other students. We might use non-verbal expressions such as: looks, head movement, facial expressions and gestures... If these non-verbal expressions did not succeed and were inefficient, as the student continued to break the rules, then verbal expressions should be used but not in front of all the students unless it was repeated.
Rasha believes that the teacher should notice and appreciate the positive behavior just as he or she notices the negative behavior. This way, he orients the students to good behavior and urges them to follow it. It is worth to mention that praising should be made for the behavior itself and not for the student always, since this might lead to hatred or jealousy between students. Instead of telling him that you are outstanding and amazing, I would say this behavior is charming… Rasha stated that some students act against the rules in order to seek attention, and in this case, we might ask him to move to a separate chair to reconsider his behavior for 5 minutes. Then the teacher would ask him: what did you think about? How do you perceive your behavior? What have you decided to do? He might stay for lunch detention to follow up on what he missed or because he neglected his duties. She added that we can lead a horse to the river but we can not force him to drink. Similarly, we can force a student to remain silent and listen but we can't force him to learn and acquire knowledge unless he wanted this himself.
According to Rasha, the teacher should promote and enhance the motive of the student through:
Knowing how to use time, tools, and environment
Knowing how to attract the attention of the students through introductions that precede the lesson
Use active, flexible, changing methods according to lessons and students
Personal Reflection about the interview:
Personal reflection :
To start with, every teacher has her/his own classroom management style and rules. This should depend on the students, the school principles, and the character of the teacher. I was interested in her classroom management rules, many of which appeared to be reasonable and practical at the same time.
The teacher should appreciate and praise the positive behavior of the student, which gives him a push to keep up the progress. For example, when I was in primary school, my whole activities were aimed at pleasing and satisfying the teacher. I used to feel proud when I receive a positive gesture from the teacher and endeavor to enhance my performance all the time.
In a nutshell, I believe that supporting positive behaviors and adopting the policy of punishments and awards would enhance the positive practices of the students and create a positive atmosphere. In parallel, I highly encourage imposing rules and regulations from the beginning of the year so that the students will not take their teachers for granted and so that they keep in mind that acting against the rules will lead to certain consequences. Moreover, I believe that the teacher should be able to create channels of communication with his/her students in a way that would portray him/her in their minds as a friend who is there to help and guide without letting this undermine his/her status as a figure of respect and authority in the class.
Rasha pointed out that the most important factors for the success of the classroom management is that the teacher should discuss with his students the rules which will be implemented during the academic year since imposing the rules and regulations on students will backfire and will lead to students not following the rules. On the contrary, when these rules are discussed with the students, they become more efficient. This way, the "law" would stem from the student and if he violates it, then he has to execute the punishment which he enforces himself. This reinforces his self confidence and self esteem.
The second step is that the teacher should always be aware and on guard for what occurs in the class. For example, if a certain student breaks the rules and the teacher did not notice, this allows other students to break the rule as well. Classroom rules represent the relation between students and the necessary behaviors. These rules should not be numerous so that the student will not feel he is in a place where rules are enforced forcefully and that any violation will lead to punishment (repressive authority). The rules should point to positive behavior rather than negative behavior. For example: I respect my colleagues in what I say and do instead of (Do not make fun of your classmates). Most importantly, applying these rules should be flexible and should fit the circumstances. For example, if talking without raising hands is not allowed, it is allowed only in group working. For these rules to be successful, they have to be endorsed by all the teachers of the same class so that the student will not get lost between the teachers of every student. Rasha also noted that the teacher should move between the students sometimes, and should always move during group work. The teacher should respect his students very well. Based on my experience, I believe that this is very influential on the educational process. Besides, the teacher should accept his students the way they are and whatever they do. For example, instead of telling the student who interrupted his mate that he impolite, we better tell him that you should not interrupt the person who is speaking.
She also said that the teacher should pursue many methods to deal with the negative behavior. For instance, if a student dropped his colleague's book on the ground, we as teachers should be ready to adopt several approaches due to the fact that the student might have dropped it unintentionally or the book might have touched his sweater, or his friend has moved the table suddenly. Rasha pointed out that intervention methods vary from one position to another. Verbal expressions are not always helpful and might sometimes lead to interruption of other students. We might use non-verbal expressions such as: looks, head movement, facial expressions and gestures... If these non-verbal expressions did not succeed and were inefficient, as the student continued to break the rules, then verbal expressions should be used but not in front of all the students unless it was repeated.
Rasha believes that the teacher should notice and appreciate the positive behavior just as he or she notices the negative behavior. This way, he orients the students to good behavior and urges them to follow it. It is worth to mention that praising should be made for the behavior itself and not for the student always, since this might lead to hatred or jealousy between students. Instead of telling him that you are outstanding and amazing, I would say this behavior is charming… Rasha stated that some students act against the rules in order to seek attention, and in this case, we might ask him to move to a separate chair to reconsider his behavior for 5 minutes. Then the teacher would ask him: what did you think about? How do you perceive your behavior? What have you decided to do? He might stay for lunch detention to follow up on what he missed or because he neglected his duties. She added that we can lead a horse to the river but we can not force him to drink. Similarly, we can force a student to remain silent and listen but we can't force him to learn and acquire knowledge unless he wanted this himself.
According to Rasha, the teacher should promote and enhance the motive of the student through:
Knowing how to use time, tools, and environment
Knowing how to attract the attention of the students through introductions that precede the lesson
Use active, flexible, changing methods according to lessons and students
Personal Reflection about the interview:
Personal reflection :
To start with, every teacher has her/his own classroom management style and rules. This should depend on the students, the school principles, and the character of the teacher. I was interested in her classroom management rules, many of which appeared to be reasonable and practical at the same time.
The teacher should appreciate and praise the positive behavior of the student, which gives him a push to keep up the progress. For example, when I was in primary school, my whole activities were aimed at pleasing and satisfying the teacher. I used to feel proud when I receive a positive gesture from the teacher and endeavor to enhance my performance all the time.
In a nutshell, I believe that supporting positive behaviors and adopting the policy of punishments and awards would enhance the positive practices of the students and create a positive atmosphere. In parallel, I highly encourage imposing rules and regulations from the beginning of the year so that the students will not take their teachers for granted and so that they keep in mind that acting against the rules will lead to certain consequences. Moreover, I believe that the teacher should be able to create channels of communication with his/her students in a way that would portray him/her in their minds as a friend who is there to help and guide without letting this undermine his/her status as a figure of respect and authority in the class.
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